"Cream" is a song by Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

 and The New Power Generation, from the 1991 album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Diamonds and Pearls

Diamonds and Pearls

Diamonds and Pearls is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Prince, released October 1, 1991, on Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. It is his first album to have The New Power Generation, his backing band at the time, receive co-billing...

. Prince states that he wrote the song while standing in front of a mirror.

The single's B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

, "Horny Pony", a rap

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

-pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 song which was replaced on Diamonds and Pearls at the last minute by "Gett Off", was re-used from the "Gett Off

Gett Off

"Gett Off" is the lead single by Prince and The New Power Generation from the 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls. The song was a last-minute addition to the album, replacing "Horny Pony", which became the song's B-side The cover uses a face drawn in...

" single. "Cream" was also released as a maxi-single EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 with remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es and songs/raps loosely based on "Cream". The EP was notable for including several prank telephone conversations.

In the UK, "Gangster Glam" was an additional B-side on the 12"/CD maxi single. In Japan, an EP was released with the tracks from the U.S. maxi single, and four tracks from the U.S. "Gett Off" maxi single. Cream is currently Prince's last number one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chart performance

In the US, "Cream" hit #1 for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in November, 1991 and it made the Top 20 in the U.K. It was very well received at American radio—peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 Airplay, this was Prince's fifth and currently last #1 hit in the U.S.-- however, it did not make the R&B singles chart, because the track was not sent to Urban radio; "Insatiable" was sent to Urban instead.

Peak positions

Chart (1991)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	1
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	15
Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	2

End of year charts

End of year chart (1991)	Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	66

U.S. CD maxi single

1. "Cream" (album version) – 4:12
2. "Cream" (N.P.G Mix) – 5:47
3. "Things Have Gotta Change" (Tony M. Rap) – 3:57
4. "2 the Wire" (Creamy Instrumental) – 3:13
5. "Get Some Solo" – 1:31
6. "Do Your Dance" (KC's Remix) – 5:58
7. "Do Your Dance" (Housebangers) – 4:23
8. "Q in Doubt" (Instrumental) – 4:00
9. "Cream" (Ethereal Mix) – 4:43

Cover versions

Scottish electronica

Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...

 artist pomDeter recorded a cover of the song, which was available for download on the Internet.

English DJ Simon Bangs covered this song, most memorably in the summer of 2010 at the Numark

Company Picnic.